" What do you think about al-Azbekiya wall ?" said Yusuf to his friend
" Boring ! .. what benefit from stalls selling worthless old books ? " His friend replied
" But look at that paradise all the old books you need with the old yellow paper and thick cover that make you feel that you are holding the history in your hands " it was the first time Yusuf visits the wall, he heard a lot about it, In his imagination, he had drawn a long wall and vendors were selling books on the ground But he was shocked by that strange way of stacking wooden stalls next to each other, which makes him feels that he is going to the market to buy vegetables or fruit ! but he enjoyed all the books he wanted to buy, he used to read magazines, maybe romantic novels and horror stories when he gets older. But he wanted heavy books, books that give him the knowledge he needs, big books that talks about history, religions ..
" Tell me the name of the book you want and I will give it to you " the seller said to Yusuf.
- " I want an old book "
- " Tell me the name "
- " Actually, I do not know "
- " What ! "
- " Any old book, and it talks about something important " The seller couldn't keep himself from laughing and he said : " When you know the books you want I will sell it to you " Yusuf left that stall to another one to see a strange mixture of religious books, political books, sexual books, foreign and Arab magazines but he was disappointed because he doesn't know what he wants and he won't find it, but he kept searching.
- " I'm tired of walking " said Yusuf's friend
- " One or two stalls and we back to the Metro " Here Yusuf saw an old man sitting inside his stall :
- " Assalamu Alaykoum ( hello ) " The old man slowly looked at Yusuf to show that the left man's eye was completely white and his face full of wrinkles.
- " Welcome young man " the old man replied
- " Do you sell old books ? " Asked Yusuf
The old man laughed : " The stall is full of them, go check the racks and choose what you want ", Yusuf was so happy because he will see book's names without paying.
Many books on the racks but Joseph came to a group of books tied with a heavy rope which means that the it has been tied for a long time, he broke the rope and began to read the names of those books, Yusuf does not know why he felt weird holding these books, maybe from the touch .. No but one book caught his attention, In fact it wasn't a book : 7 papers of a large size tied with a thread but the most intense is the feel of paper ! The paper was rough and thick and was written in the first sheet of the top by hand : On the novel of the traveler Ahmed ben Ishaq al-Baghdadi.
Last Chapter : The manuscript of Ben Isaac : City of the dead (introduction)
